Will Uf Stay The Biggest? It's Not Likely

University Presidents Say The Best Way To Handle Student Growth May Be To Enlarge The State's Urban Schools.

September 12, 1997|By Joni James of The Sentinel Staff

Gator loyalists, brace yourself. Just 13 short years from now the state's oldest university probably won't be the biggest.

Rather, expect the University of Florida to be one of a six-pack of state mega-schools - including Orlando's University of Central Florida - that each enrolls 45,000 students or more.

''We're close to our optimal size,'' UF President John Lombardi acknowledged as university presidents laid out their vision of the future Thursday during a daylong meeting of the Board of Regents planning committee, which is working on a long-range plan for the state's 10 public universities.

The challenge: By 2010, find room in state universities and private colleges for an estimated 120,000 additional students seeking bachelor's degrees.

The response, particularly from university presidents governing the young institutions in Florida's biggest cities: We will take them, either on expanded main campuses or on branch campuses at community colleges.

''I think the solution to all the problems is to expand the large, urban universities and build partnerships,'' Florida Atlantic University President Anthony Catanese said.

No action was taken on the presidents' suggestions Thursday; the regents won't write their long-range plan until early next year. But the meeting showed that Florida's four urban universities - all founded in the past 50 years - are eager to expand their spheres of influence. Adding students means more money for operations, more alumni donations and more political clout.

Florida's average student population at its universities already is the highest in the nation. But expanding those schools may be the only hope for meeting enrollment needs in the next decade.

Other ideas, such as building small state colleges or converting community colleges, are considered too expensive or too unpopular. But it's also unclear how universities will pay for expansions because the state already can't keep up with universities' building needs.

Bob Bryan, a member of the Postsecondary Education Planning Commission who is heading a statewide planning effort for higher education, said bigger universities are the only answer.

''I don't know if we want our (state university) system to look this way, but it's going to look this way because it's the most logical way to solve the problems in a state that has goofy tax problems,'' he said.

Among the state's universities, only UF didn't propose a significant enrollment increase. Lombardi said the school - already serving 42,000 students - couldn't grow beyond 45,000 without damaging the institution's residential character and research efforts.

''I don't see us planting branch campuses; that's not what our mission is. We are a research university,'' Lombardi said.

But for the state's other universities Thursday's meeting was a chance to shape the future.

Catanese proposed the most grandiose plan, increasing FAU's enrollment from 21,000 on five campuses in southeast Florida to 46,100 on seven campuses in the next 13 years.

UCF wants to add 18,500 students by 2010, bringing the school's population to 47,000. Florida International University in Miami would add 15,000 to enroll 45,000, and the University of South Florida in Tampa would add 15,000 to enroll 50,000.

Florida State University in Tallahassee, the state's second-oldest university, wants to grow to 44,500 from its current enrollment of 30,000.